The Public File: Lingle Pays $5,000 a Week For Cable Channel

It’s less than you might expect, according to this week’s peek into the public files.

U.S. senate candidate Linda Lingle‘s much ballyhooed launch of her own cable channel, touted as the first of its kind in U.S. campaign history, is only costing her $5,000 a week. That adds up to $105,000 if she keeps it going through the end of the election.

It’s a small sum considering that at the last campaign filing deadline, Lingle had more than $3 million in the bank.

Oceanic Time Warner Channel 110 is a digital and an interactive channel where viewers can use their TV remotes to access information and videos about Lingle and her campaign. The contract will be renewed on a weekly basis, said Michael Garcia, ad sales manager for Oceanic Time Warner. You can view this week’s contract [pdf] on Time Warner’s online political ad database.

In addition to her 24-hour campaign channel, the former Republican governor also spent about $62,000 on TV ads this week.

The public files, which reveal who bought political TV ads and for how much, show that Lingle paid $12,449 for 98 spots that have been running on cable TV this week on various channels including CNN, CNBC, ESPN, TNT and others.

Lingle also spent $34,630 for 46 minute-long spots on KGMB running this and next week. She paid another $20,000 for 17 spots on KHON airing this week through June 22, including $3,000 for a minute-long ad during the 6 p.m. news.

Hannemann spent $15,825 for 52 spots on KITV that aired in the first of half of this week and $21,045 for 42 spots on KGMB that ran the last couple weeks.

The files also show that KHNL refunded him $3,251 for 18 spots that had been planned for June 2 through June 11. He still had 29 other spots on KHNL during that time period.

And for the first time, the public file shows a legislative candidate buying a handful of TV ads.

Former Rep. Lei Ahu Isa spent $2,100 for seven 30-second spots on KITV that will run July 16 to July 19. Isa is hoping to represent District 26 which covers downtown, Kakaako, Ala Moana and part of McCully.

Oceanic Time Warner this week updated its online database, showing some older ad buys, including one by Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle. He had paid $1,076 for 16 spots on Time Warner that ran May 28 to June 3.

Carlisle has spent at least $144,000 on local stations and cable media since May, the most out of any mayoral candidate.

There were no independent expenditures by political action committees this week.

The public files show at least $1,355,000 has been spent so far this election cycle on local TV stations and cable networks. Roughly $756,000, or 55 percent, was spent by mainland PACs.